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Friday, September 15, 2017

Recently I was doing some grocery
shopping and saw the Halo Top brand of ice cream which had some
flavors that looked interesting. I did a little research on it and it
seemed to be getting pretty good reviews. I also read that it had
become the top selling pint ice cream brand in the US. This is pretty
impressive considering it is a relatively new company, so I decided
to try it out to see how it compares to another well known ice cream
brand, Ben & Jerry's.

I don't eat as much ice cream as I used
to, but my favorite flavor of all time is Ben & Jerry's Mint
Chocolate Cookie. I saw it was on sale recently so I decided to pick
up a pint of the Mint Chocolate Cookie as well as the Halo Top Mint
Chip so see how they compare. The prices for the pint were pretty
similar with Halo Top being a little more expensive.

Comparing the nutrition facts, Ben and
Jerry's has a lot more calories and fat per ½ cup serving. It is
also more dense, for example a serving of Ben and Jerry's is 106g
while a serving of Halo Top is 64g. So in terms of calories, you are
getting more for your money with Ben and Jerry's but if you are
looking for something lower in calories and fat, Halo Top would be
the way to go.

Upon scooping them out, the Halo Top
has a more icy consistency compared to the Ben & Jerry's which
has more of a smooth, squishy texture. In fact the first scoop of the
Halo Top went flying out of the pint while the scoop of Ben &
Jerry's sticks to the spoon. I found it interesting the Halo Top
packaging has a light green color often associated with mint chip,
but the ice cream inside is actually more of an off white color. The
Ben & Jerry's has more of a pure white with the cookie speckles
mixed in.

So how do they taste? The Halo Top
tasted ok. The mint ice cream seemed to dissolve fast in mouth. The
mint flavor was ok but not great. The chocolate chips tasted pretty
standard compared to chocolate chips in other ice creams. After
eating a few spoonfuls, I was a little unimpressed with the flavor.
Maybe I went in with expectations too high. But considering how it is
so low in calories, fat, and sugar, it is actually not too bad.

In comparison to the Halo Top, the Ben
& Jerry's just has a much better taste as can be expected since
it has more fat and sugar. It is more creamy, savory, and sweet and
is something you want to eat more of where as with the Halo Top,
after a few bites, I didn't really want to eat any more. For me, with
this comparison, the Ben & Jerry's still comes out well ahead in
terms of taste and flavor.

I can see the appeal of the Halo Top
though. If you are someone who really likes ice cream, but you do not
want the high calories, fat, and sugar, Halo Top is a good
alternative. It gives an ok experience and you don't have to worry
about the nutrition. For me, I don't mind the extra calories, in
fact, I have been trying to eat more calories so the Ben &
Jerry's takes the win in this case. It would be nice if it was lower
in fat, but in small servings, it is ok to have as a treat once in a
while.

What are your thoughts on these ice
cream brands? Do you have another favorite brand besides Ben &
Jerry's or Halo Top?